Larissa Behrendt

Larissa is the Professor of Law and Director of Research at the Jumbunna Indigenous House of Learning at the University of Technology, Sydney and is admitted to the Supreme Court of the ACT and NSW as a barrister.

A graduate with a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Jurisprudence from the University of New South Wales, Larissa was the first Aboriginal Australian to graduate from Harvard Law School when she gained her Master of Laws and Senior Doctorate of Jurisprudence. She is a member of the Academy of Social Sciences of Australia and the Australian Academy of Law.

Previously the Chair of the College of Experts (Humanities and Creative Arts) of the Australian Research Council, Larissa is currently on the Cooperative Research Centres (CRC) Committee. Larissa is a Commissioner at the Land and Environment Court and the Alternate Chair of the Serious Offenders Review Board.

As the author of several books on Indigenous legal issues, Larissa won the 2002 David Unaipon Award and a 2005 Commonwealth Writer’s Prize for her novel Home. Her latest novel, Legacy, was released in 2009 and won a Victorian Premier’s Literary Award.

Larissa is a Board Member of the Museum of Contemporary Art. She was the inaugural Chair of National Indigenous Television Ltd. and has been a Director of the Sydney Writers Festival. Larissa is the Ambassador of the Gawura Aboriginal campus at St Andrew’s Cathedral School.

Larissa joined the Bangarra Board in 2005 and was Chair of Bangarra in December 2010 to October 2014.

Larissa has been recognized for her contribution to society through her award as 2009 NAIDOC Person of the Year and 2011 NSW Australian of the Year.